Major Gun Legislation Hits Capitol
There’s a serious bill in the Arkansas Legislature that would fundamentally change parts of Arkansas’s gun laws and use of force. It’s facing its first big vote in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning. Keep this page bookmarked this Tuesday (and this week) as we will update this live as the HB1059 is discussed and voted on in the House Judiciary Committee.
FIRST UPDATE: Monday, February 4.
- The “Stand Your Ground” bill (check it out here) was placed on the deferred list, ahead of it’s scheduled House Judiciary Committee vote at 10:00am On Tuesday.
Check out what state Rep. Nicole Clowney of Fayetteville has to say…
“Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 10am, the House Judiciary Committee, on which I sit, will hear HB1059 – commonly referred to as “Stand Your Ground” legislation. What exactly does this mean?
Under the law as it stands now, if a person feels threatened by another, but can retreat into safety, he has a duty to retreat before using deadly force. Stand Your Ground laws remove this duty to retreat. So, in Stand Your Ground states, a person who *could* leave a situation without engaging in deadly force is not required to do so.
I plan to vote against this bill because Stand Your Ground legislation will not keep Arkansans safer.
Tomorrow our committee will hear from the sponsor of the bill and from members of the public testifying both for and against it.”
Let committee members know what you think, and what kind of state you want Arkansas to be.